


five times DJSS wanted to be alone and one time they didn't

by TapiocaFlower



Category: No Straight Roads (Video Game)
Genre: Family Fluff, Feelings Jams, Gen, Late Night Conversations, Mild Language, No Romance, Non-Binary DJ Subatomic Supernova, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Platonic Relationships
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-11
Updated: 2020-11-11
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:27:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,632
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27098863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TapiocaFlower/pseuds/TapiocaFlower
Summary: They looked down at Vinyl City from their vantage point.They'd arrived here for some alone time, but why do their coworkers insist on bothering them?!(Inspired by nostraightheadcanons on tumblr, about DJ isolating themself at the top of the NSR Tower lighthouse whenever they felt upset.)Each chapter will be DJ chatting sometimes amicably, most of the time not, with their fellow artists.
Relationships: DJ Subatomic Supernova & Everyone
Comments: 2
Kudos: 38





	five times DJSS wanted to be alone and one time they didn't

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you even THINK of shipping these two I will stomp you to death with my hooves

_Stars_

Scattered across the sky forming distant galaxies, in the midst of a vast emptiness far beyond ordinary human understanding. Untouched, unseen, undiscovered by mankind. To spread their music among those celestial bodies was their calling, their destiny.

What DJ Subatomic Supernova didn’t expect, was to make it up there themself.

( _I’d rather not think about that right now._ )

Below them, Vinyl City shined in pockmarks. Bright towers were lit up between darkened neighborhoods. The DJ hadn’t noticed it before, not that they much cared for areas outside of their jurisdiction _. ( Those places simply didn’t matter in the grander scope of things. )_

Which led their gaze towards the Cast Tech District.

They’d tried to return home not long after being dragged through the atmosphere, but a strange contraption there seemed to create a force field specifically preventing _them_ from entering the district. How a pair of simpletons could even think of such a device, they couldn’t fathom. It was a good thing they kept a spare helmet at NSR Tower.

That’s why Supernova found themself here, at the top of the NSR tower’s lighthouse. Out of a home and presumably, out of a job. So, they may as well spend their last moments with NSR in the place they enjoyed most. ( _No, I am_ not _sulking. )_

A chilling breeze blew by, bringing with it a newspaper that slapped them in the face. ( _If I were of worse temperament, I would’ve sworn the world was out to get me. )_ They peeled it away to read the headline about- _Sayu’s_ defeat _?_

_( How long was I up there? )_

A creaking door alerted them to a newcomer on the viewing platform. It’s followed by a suspicious lack of footsteps… but a distinct electronic _swishing_ was a dead giveaway.

“Oh, hi DJ Sub Sup!” Sayu called out as she noticed them. The digital idol floated ( _swam?_ ) over to lean against the railing next to them. She sighed in that perfectly dreamy way as she looked to the city below. “Isn’t this view wonderful?”

Hiding their annoyance at the intrusion is exceptionally easy when one has no facial expressions and unparalleled self-control. They hummed, “whether something is wonderful or not is subjective, but… I must agree with you here.”

The two stood in silence, accompanied only by the breeze. She seemed normal, normal for Sayu being inhumanely peppy. They didn’t understand how she kept that up. Unaware of their observation, Sayu hummed happily to herself, bobbing up and down to a song only she could hear.

“You seem down,” she very expertly deduced, bringing them out of their thoughts. A strange grin appeared on her face, “do you need some _space_?”

_( Of course one would be “down” after losing everything they’ve-_ wait _. )_

“Oh. That was an awful pun Sayu. No, I’ve had enough space for today actually.”

“Whaaat!” She exclaimed, slapping her cheeks for emphasis. The shock in her voice could’ve fooled them into thinking they’d just announced an engagement, “but your whole thing is space! That would be like me saying I’ve had enough of the ocean!!”

“Well, let’s say a certain loss has left a sour taste in my mouth.” They could feel a migraine begin to form just from the thought.

“Do you even have a mouth?” She wondered aloud. If this were an anime, a comically large sweat drop would’ve appeared over the DJ’s head. Meanwhile, Sayu seemed to actually ponder this, hand on her chin and eyes closed, humming until- “Wait a second… No way… BBJ _actually_ sent you into _orbit_?!”

“I loathe to even think about it, but yes. The _damned_ plutonians defeated me. Their final assault was an unwelcome surprise.” They expected sympathy, perhaps the same shock she’d shown earlier. Instead, Sayu's eyes _literally_ lit up with sparkles. A bit too loud and a bit too close, she gasped, “woah, what was it like out there?”

The DJ thought to themself, it wasn’t the most displeasing experience. Actually, it was quite enlightening to be spiraling through the very thing they’d studied all their life.

It was completely devoid of… _nearly_ all sound. When they floated past the NSR satellite, they could hear their melody playing from the attached drones. It was comforting, to be reassured of their music’s place out in the universe.

_( Re-entry was a bitch though. )_

“Absolutely none of your business,” they said, instead of any of the above.

“Awww.” She pouted but it didn’t last long. The cowlick of hair on her head shot straight up, resembling an exclamation mark. It’s followed by her eyes comically widening like a begging cat, as she brought her hands to her face to mimic paws. “So, so, the meteorite on the news! That was you! Wasn’t it?”

It’s not often they’re glad for their expressionless orb of a face, but the past few moments with Sayu has changed that drastically. Right now, they’re praising every decision their past self took that led to this very moment: Preventing Sayu from seeing them cringe so hard they’re sure the glass they’re made of would’ve cracked.

It’s true that they fell from the sky, but with the power of music and their co-workers, their descent was slowed as much as possible. Getting blasted by soundwaves acting as nets was a crude solution, but it sufficed for how quickly a certain captain was forced to devise it. ( _I would’ve been able to do much better if I weren’t the one falling at terminal velocity._ )

From the top of the lighthouse, Supernova could easily glance towards the crater they’d left on the outskirts of Vinyl City. Thankfully, NSR kept the event under wraps, claiming it was simply a meteorite. The meteorite Sayu seemed to have heard on the news. They _refused_ to let this be their legacy in the eyes of the mermaid.

They also refused to speak further on the subject, “if that is all-”

“You’re avoiding the subject! It _was_ you! Yesss.” The ‘yes’ seemed to be out of character, as Sayu paused for a moment. Whatever exchange happened behind the scenes, it’s brief and Sayu seemed a tad bit happier.

Which to them, was the last straw.

“How are you so carefree? _Especially_ at a time like this?! Are you not perturbed by the events transpiring around us?” They snapped at her, but their gaze stayed directly ahead of them. They let their frustrations loose over the skyline. “Have you not lost your life’s work as well?!”

The air stilled around them.

Sayu exhaled, shaky and breathless. Suddenly she was... smaller than they’d ever seen her.

“I.. we can’t activate Sayu in the district anymore, but _we’re_ still in Akusuka,” she explained, but it was no longer Sayu, the globally loved digital idol, who was speaking.

Sayu, the creation of four young graduates, slumped on the railing next to them. “NSR tower had a backup of Sayu as well as all the same equipment as Kura Kura Stream Hub installed when we joined. Which is why I’m here.”

“We just… miss her,” the team behind Sayu confessed.

Supernova exhaled, controlled and slow. Sayu’s excitement may grate on them, but this… _sad_ mermaid bothered them much _much_ more. Their chest felt heavy, heavier than when they were defeated, heavier than when they first came up here to sulk.

( _This feeling… guilt is it? I don’t care for it at all_. )

They had to fix this. Immediately.

They took a deep breath.

“Those _simpletons_! They hijacked my- _your_ concert. It was an ambush. The lowest of the low hanging fruit. They- they weren’t playing fair. If it _had_ been a fair challenge I’m sure they wouldn’t have lasted a… a _millisecond_. They are cowards and they know it!”

They gestured wildly as they spoke, hands raised to the air then back down again. Sayu wasn’t the only one who could put on a show, give them some credit for trying at least.

“I’m sure the other artists will be able to defeat them, and we’ll return to how everything was. You and your... ocean, me and my space.”

( _Eugh, that was more sincerity than I’d shown anyone in... decades. )_

Sayu stared at them, eyebrows furrowed.

Her eyes twitched.

She threw her head back and-

_she burst into laughter._

Uncontrolled, bright, and free, it was the kind of ugly laugh you wouldn’t expect of someone with her image. They didn’t think it ugly at all, as it brought a fraction of cheer back into the air. ( _A fraction of her cheer is already a lot more than what I had in the first place_.) It’s the least they could’ve done.

Sayu didn’t stop either, she clutched at her stomach and began banging her arm on an invisible table. They’d be annoyed if it weren’t so… endearing. They’d never seen the idol drop all façade and simply be… the team that made her up.

( _Children_ were _why I took that teaching job in the first place... How could I have-_ )

“Oh noooo I think your gravitational potential is increasing DJ!” Sayu suddenly exclaimed, bringing them back into the present. If they had eyes, they’d be staring at her in bewilderment with a hefty side of confusion.

“My- what? How? I’m-”

Sayu cut them off by wrapping her arms around them as best she could. “Oh noooooo, I can’t let goooo!”

( _…_ )

She was… hugging them. Or at least, attempting to hug them. It was more of a side hug and she couldn’t quite reach her own hands. They… didn’t expect this? Okay, that was the understatement of the century.

( _…what am I supposed to do now? )_

Instinct took over.

They reached around to wrap her in a hug.

“Everything will turn out fine,” they said to her.

They said to the team behind her.

… Maybe to themself actually.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just wanted to write about DJ interacting with all the other NSRtists, since we don't really see any of that in game. The 5+1 trope is usually romantic coded, but I liked the format, especially after counting the number of characters.
> 
> The post I talk abt in the summary is this one  
> https://nostraightheadcanons.tumblr.com/post/630102367445090304
> 
> This chapter was definitely inspired by the cute comic of Sayu making puns at DJ by user seiishin who you can find on twt, tumblr and ig but I'll be linking the comic on tumblr below  
> https://seiishindraws.tumblr.com/post/630803994402603008
> 
> Other than that, updates r gonna be slow but I will try to finish this!
> 
> It's gonna go in boss order so, next up  
> Yinu!

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Leave a comment or a kudos if you enjoyed ^^


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